TIMELINE: Largest & deadliest earthquakes from 1900 to present day
Posted April 27, 2015 4:27 pm.
Last Updated April 30, 2015 12:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake, centred outside Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu, was the worst to hit the South Asian nation of 31 million in more than 80 years and has left more than 3,900 dead.
Below is a list from the U.S. Geological Survey of the largest earthquakes, measured in both magnitude and deaths, from 1900 until today:
Largest Earthquakes from 1900 to present:
May 22, 1960 — Chile, 9.5
March 28, 1964 — Prince William Sound, Alaska, 9.2
December 26, 2004 —Sumatra, Indonesia, 9.1
March 11, 2011 — Honshu, Japan, 9.0
November 4, 1952 — Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 9.0
February 27, 2010 — Chile, 8.8
January 31, 1906 — Ecuador, 8.8
February 4, 1965 — Rat Islands, Alaska, 8.7
April 11, 2012 — Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6
March 28, 2005 — Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6
August 15, 1950 — Assam, Tibet, 8.6
March 9, 1957 — Andreanof Islands, Alaska, 8.6
September 12, 2007 — Southern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.5
February 1, 1938 — Banda Sea, Indonesia, 8.5
February 3, 1923 — Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 8.5
November 11, 1922 — Chile-Argentina Border, 8.5
October 13, 1963 — Kuril Islands, 8.5
Deadliest Earthquakes from 1900 to present:
January 12, 2010 – Haiti – 316,000 killed (magnitude 7.0). Other sources report 230,000.
July 27, 1976 – Tangshan, China – 242,769 killed (7.5)
December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia – 227,898 killed in quake and resulting tsunami (9.1)
December 16, 1920 – Haiyuan, China – 200,000 killed (7.8)
September 1, 1923 – Kanto, Japan – 142,800 killed (7.9)
October 5, 1948 – Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – 110,000 killed (7.3)
May 12, 2008 – Eastern Sichuan, China – 87,587 killed (7.9)
October 8, 2005 – Pakistan – 86,000 (7.6)
December 28, 1908 – Messina, Italy – 72,000 (7.2)
May 31, 1970 – Chimbote, Peru – 70,000 killed (7.9)
June 20, 1990 – Rasht-Qazvin-Zanjan, Iran – 50,000 killed (7.4)
